07/17/05 - Police Must Be Held To Account - O'LoanIT 07/18/05 Police Must Be Held To Account - O'LoanIA 07/17/05 Former British PM Ted Heath DiesIT 07/18/05 Hain Calls For IRA To Move 'Soon'EX 07/18/05 Death Threats To Shell Workers In DisputeIT 07/17/05 Village In Shock At Death Of Local TeenagerIT 07/18/05 Nuns Open New Monastery To Public ViewTH 07/17/05 Tommy Sands: Sands Stormer----

07/02/05 – Loyalist Shot To Death In FeudGU 07/02/05 Man Shot To Death In N. Ireland AttackBT 07/02/05 Rival Groups Square Up Over MurderBT 07/02/05 Tensions Never Far From The Surface In Militant LoyalismSF 07/01/05 Fears Over Loyalist Feud Ending In Attacks On CatholicsUT 07/01/05 Gerry Adams Backs 'Mayo Five'IO 07/02/05 Sinn Féin Members Stage Petrol Station ProtestUH 06/30/05 Priest Threatened For Objecting To Flags Outside His HouseNY 06/22/05 Rep. King And The IRA: The End Of An Extraordinary Affair?UT 07/02/05 Oscar-Nominated Actor In Plea Over Festival's FundingUH 06/30/05 Charges Are Dropped Of Stealing Car For Omagh BombBT 07/02/05 UUP Looks Set To Enter The Last Chance SaloonBT 07/02/05 New Homes Offers Hope In The Shadow Of Peace LineUH 06/30/05 Arlene‘S Family In Tears At VerdictUH 06/30/05 Drowning Victim Laid To RestSL 07/02/05 Rev: Stones In His Pockets Proves Different Can Be GoodHC 06/28/05 Next Best Thing To Gold At The End Of Ireland's Rainbow----

British government, army and PSNI figures are expected toconfirm within 24 hours new measures to redraw the securitypresence following last week's IRA declaration that itscampaign was over.

Sinn Féin chief negotiator Martin McGuinness said yesterdayhe was encouraged by the changes undertaken so far in southArmagh.

These are expected to be followed soon by further"normalisation" or demilitarisation in Derry city and inthe Divis area of west Belfast where a British army lookoutpost scans Gerry Adams's constituency.

The expected British announcements should be in line withstated objectives agreed with the Irish Government atsummits but which have been on hold because of politicaluncertainty.

The IRA is also expected to put the first of substantialamounts of its arsenal beyond use in the near future.

Sources differ as to when this will happen, but there is ageneral expectation that a move will be made before manysenior political figures go on holidays later this month.

Mr McGuinness said yesterday he welcomed the dismantling ofthe British army presence in south Armagh within 24 hoursof Thursday's IRA statement.

Speaking after his three-day trip to the US to briefpolitical figures on the IRA statement, Mr McGuinness said:"That clearly shows that, if you like, the soldiers,whether it be soldiers of the IRA or the soldiers of theBritish army, are prepared, to some degree, to trust oneanother.

"I think that if soldiers can do that then it is incumbenton the politicians and on the people to support thateffort.

"This means that the Irish and British governments need topush forward with the implementation of the Good Fridayagreement and the restoration of the politicalinstitutions.

"It also means that the days when the DUP were allowed toprevent progress have come to an end.

"It is time for the DUP to step up to the plate andrepresent the interests of those who vote for them. It istime that they sit down face-to-face with Irishrepublicans."

DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson said his party was mandated not topress ahead with anything until unionist confidence hadbeen created by concrete decommissioning moves by the IRA.

"The evidence is crucial. We have made clear that we willnot move into government unless the unionist community canbe confident that the IRA has ended its campaign ofviolence and decommissioned its weapons."

Further political initiatives are expected in the autumn,including moves to allow Northern elected representativesspeaking rights in the Dáil.

Northern Secretary Peter Hain has also told The Irish Timesthat there will be an announcement concerning moves to setup some form of truth and reconciliation commission.

He said this would not be along the lines of the model thatoperated in South Africa, but confirmed that considerationof a policy to address the legacy of the Troubles,announced by his predecessor Paul Murphy, would continue.

"I'm hearing talks will start in Dublin in September aboutthe mechanics of bringing speaking rights about," he said.

"There will be a consultation process with parties inDublin by the Taoiseach. When the deal with Sinn Féin wasnot completed last December, I said this was outside theterms of the Good Friday agreement and it was a breach ofthe principle that the consent of the majority of thepeople of Northern Ireland would be required before thereis any change to our constitutional status."

In a warning to Mr Ahern not to proceed with any "embryonicall-Ireland parliament", he said: "When the idea was firstmooted two years ago, the UUP opposed it. We told the twogovernments then, and have repeatedly since, that if it ispursued by Dublin we will no longer be obligated to oursupport for North-South institutions."

Dr Seán Farren of the SDLP criticised Sir Reg's remarks as"intolerable madness". Accusing the former industryminister of undoing the good cross-Border work he had donewhile at Stormont, Dr Farren said: "Again and again DavidTrimble threatened the North-South agenda.

"Again and again he undermined work which had the abilityto transform the lives of everyone on this island. It is aserious mistake for Reg Empey to attempt to do the same."

Northern secretary Peter Hain yesterday confirmed that hewill commence discussions with the parties in September, torestore devolved government as quickly as possible.

While Mr Hain would not be drawn on a timescale, he did saythat the IRA statement had created a context that wouldallow dramatic progress.

Specifically referring to the upcoming talks, he told RTÉ:"That is going to be a crunch point, a make-your-mind-uptime."

In an indication of the pressure that will be exerted onthe DUP, he said that all parties would have "to live up totheir responsibilities".

While DUP sources insisted over the weekend that it may be18 months to two years before the party is willing to enternegotiations with Sinn Féin, it was clear that bothgovernments strongly believe the IRA statement has pavedthe way for a rapid return of devolution. All theindications point to a target date between March and Maynext year.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, also speaking on RTÉ, said that ifthe IRA was given the all-clear by the independentmonitoring commission and by the internationaldecommissioning body, it would mean that could qualify itas a legal organisation in the South.

The IRA is currently classified as an illegal organisationunder the Offences Against the State Act 1939, but the actprovides for that status to be reversed.

"I am ready to believe that this week's events, if followedby particular actions, do offer a clear sign that the IRAhas come around to this peaceful analysis," said Mr Ahern.

Significantly, Mr Ahern also said that once the IRAstatement had been borne out by action, it would also meanthat Sinn Féin would have its electoral 'stigma' removed.

He said that this could leave the party open to seekpotential coalition partners. However, he ruled out anysuch agreement with Fianna Fáil in the near future: "Itwould be very difficult to do it with my own party becausewe disagree with them on most policies."

Mr Ahern also revealed that he had held seven or eightprivate meetings with SF leader Gerry Adams since March,and not the three previously confirmed by Government.

"I was not going to get into a glare of publicity and allof the activities around these meetings if they were goingnowhere. They were very much meetings to explore whether wewere actually able to get the process to move on," he said,adding that he never favoured a policy of isolationismagainst SF.

Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI yesterday praised the IRA'sdecision to end its armed campaign as "beautiful news".

SINN Fein last night demanded that the year-long ban on itsfive MPs receiving taxpayers' money, worth up to anestimated £500,000 in parliamentary allowances andexpenses, be lifted in light of the IRA's historic decisionlast week to give up the gun.

The Irish republican party is also looking to receiveanother "peace dividend" windfall with the lifting of thesuspension of a further annual £120,000 politicaldevelopment grant.

Following a vote by MPs, the allowances and expenses banwas implemented in April by Paul Murphy, the-then NorthernIreland secretary, after the Independent MonitoringCommission's (IMC) report into the £26.5m Northern Bankrobbery in Belfast last December, Britain's biggest, whichwas attributed to the IRA.

After the murder of Robert McCartney outside a bar in thecity in January, again attributed to members of the IRA,Sinn Fein's political stock fell further at Westminster andin the Commons the government succumbed to opposition callsfor the party to be punished.

When the party had four MPs, before May's general election,including Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, it claimedmore than £100,000-a-year each. With five, that bill wouldhave been expected to top £500,000 this year.

Last night, a spokesman for Mr Adams said: "We will bedemanding the government recognises our democratic mandatein the same way it does with other parties."

An IMC report is due later in the year.

The Pope yesterday hailed the IRA disarmament decision as"beautiful news" and urged all to work for a lasting peacein Northern Ireland.

Pope Benedict, addressing pilgrims at his summer palaceoutside Rome, expressed "satisfaction and hope" after theIRA on Thursday met international demands to declare its1997 ceasefire permanent and to renounce violence.

The IRA will hold true to its word and end its armedconflict in Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein's chief negotiatorMartin McGuinness said yesterday.

Just back from his trip to Washington where he debriefed USofficials on the status of the peace process, Mr McGuinnessheralded the IRA's commitment, set out in a statement onThursday, as "momentous and historic".

He said the IRA's pledge was sincere and described it as a"genuine attempt to move the process forward", adding hewas hopeful the Good Friday Agreement would deliver aunited Ireland through "exclusively peaceful and democraticmeans".

The MP said he welcomed the British army's"demilitarisation" of parts of the province. On Friday, theArmy began to dismantle security bases in south Armagh.

Mr McGuinness said: "That clearly shows that, if you like,the soldiers, whether it be soldiers of the IRA or thesoldiers of the British army are prepared, to some degree,to trust one another.

"I think that if soldiers can do that, then it is incumbenton the politicians and on the people to support thateffort."

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said that lifting the ban onthe IRA would not require legislation and could be done bya Government order.

However, the IRA would have to change its rule book forthis to occur, and he believed such a move by theGovernment was "for the longer haul".

He said the Offences Against the State Act, which outlawedthe IRA in 1939, envisaged a situation where a banned groupcould have changed itself sufficiently that it was nolonger an illegal group.

Under the legislation a group that promotes, organises oradvocates the use of force to change the Constitution orfor other means is illegal, and the Government can issue aprohibition order against specific organisations as aresult.

"It's all set out. In 1939 the government of the dayanticipated that an unlawful organisation might transformitself into a new mode and become exclusively political,and it's why the 1939 Act allows the Government to revokean order providing that an organisation is unlawful," MrAhern said.

"They never have to drop the name IRA, the Provisional IRA;that isn't the issue," Mr Ahern told RTÉ radio yesterday.

"It is the conditions about their rule book and theirconspiracy against the State and the armed campaign and allof the other things.

"So before it can ever change they have to comply with allof those issues, and I think that is the challenge and I'mnot saying they have to do that in the next week."

Asked whether he thought the Government might lift theorder banning the IRA in the future, he said: "Yes, and itcan actually be done quite simply. It can be revoked oramended."

However, it could "only happen after a period of time" whenan assessment was made that the Provisional IRA was nolonger involved in activity that constituted a breach ofthe legislation. He said the views of the IndependentInternational Commission on Decommissioning and theInternational Monitoring Commission could be "taken accountof when making that decision".

If the IRA did not "change in that fundamental way it willremain unlawful and the sanctions of the law fully apply toit".

Minister for Justice Michael McDowell also said yesterdaythat the IRA would have to change its "constitution" beforethe Government would lift the prohibition order, and thatthis would require a full IRA army convention.

Mr Ahern reiterated his belief that last Thursday's IRAstatement meant a complete end to criminal activities bythe organisation even though it did not mention the word"criminal".

"Well, time will tell, but I think that as of now I'm readyto believe that this week's events, if followed bynecessary actions, do offer a clear sign that theProvisional IRA have come round to this peaceful analysis."

Tony Blair was right to rejoice. There is a real prospectof permanent peace in Northern Ireland. But he was wrong toimply that the world, at least as seen from Belfast,changed last Thursday afternoon. History moves ongradually, not in sudden leaps. The IRA's announcement thatthe "armed struggle" is over did not create a new era inthe province. It was one of the new era's consequences.

At last, Sinn Féin has realised that, far from promotingIrish unity, the violence of its military wing has heldback the achievement of an honourable aspiration. Partitionwill be ended by forces wholly unconnected with the IRA.Its gunmen - if they are anything other than gangsters -will promote what they claim to be their only objective bystepping aside. They can console themselves with thethought that the border, which they hope to obliterate, isalready blurred and will soon be effectively abolished.

The hopes of Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera will berealised courtesy of the global market and the EuropeanUnion. The inexorable pressure of economic reality isdragging the six counties closer and closer to therepublic. Where economics leads, politics is bound tofollow. Industry and commerce grow closer day by day andthe institutions of government will soon reflect that shiftfrom partnership to integration.

The pressure to combine has been increased by the growth ofthe republic's economy. Gross domestic product per head isnow higher in Ireland than in the United Kingdom. Northernfarmers do not enjoy the "regime" that has made theirsouthern competitors prosperous. The old jokes about Irishdevotion to antique inefficiency are contradicted by signsof progress that mock the north. Miles were changed tokilometres overnight. A smoking ban in public places waspeacefully accepted by the allegedly self-destructivepeasantry. Thanks to tax breaks, picturesque hovels havebeen replaced by holiday homes.

There were always more obstacles to Irish unity than theintransigence of the so called "loyalists" - men and womenso loyal to the crown that they contemplated openrebellion. The republic was reluctant to integrate with thehardline (and sometimes homicidal) unionists of the sixcounties. More recently there have developed understandableanxieties about amalgamation with a province in which taxidrivers run extortion rackets and drug rings and innocentmen have their throats cut for failing to show properrespect to self-appointed ghetto bosses.

Gerry Adams has at last realised that the tactics of 1921do more harm than good. He knows too that he can afford toexpress lofty views about the need "to reach out and putthe past behind us". The republicans have won the argument.He is right. "The time to confront the enemy" is past andSinn Féin has the strongest possible interest in preservingthe peace.

Conversely, the Rev Ian Paisley has everything to lose fromthe decommissioning of IRA arms and the acceptance that,from now on, the republican campaign must be politicalrather than military. If the peace holds, Stormont will berevived and progress to unity will go irresistibly on. Nowonder that he announced his scepticism within minutes ofthe IRA issuing its peace statement.

Adams still has a problem. He has to ensure that hisfollowers accept the reality of the 21st century. The "RealIRA" will almost certainly battle mindlessly on. But theymay not be the only dissidents who play into Paisley'shands. Some of the republican "volunteers" have a financialinterest in the war continuing. The old methods ofpreserving discipline - beatings and shootings - can nolonger be employed to keep them in line without theprovoking the plausible accusation that the IRA has stillnot changed its ways.

Long ago, during a clandestine meeting in a disusedfactory, Adams lost his temper with me when I suggestedthat, by acting as pall-bearer to the notorious fish-and-chip-shop bomber, he had sacrificed all hope of forgivenessfrom the Protestants of the Shankill Road. After all, thebomber had killed two of their children. The drivernominated by Adams to ferry me to and from the secretlocation did his best to justify Adams's conduct: "If hehadn't carried the coffin, they would have killed him." Forthe peace to hold, Adams has to keep the savages undercontrol.

The chances are that he will manage it. Guerrillas need ahinterland into which to disappear after operations. For 50years the republican hinterland has been sympatheticcivilians. Now their sympathy is running out. They realisethat the war is won because time and logic are on the sideof Irish unity. All they have to do is wait. That is whythere is now a real prospect of Northern Ireland enjoyingthe tranquillity its peoples deserve.

The IRA Disarms, Sinn Fein Sweeps The Polls. And GerryAdams Is A Loser

Tim Hames

ON FRIDAY NIGHT Dolores McNamara, a mother of six fromLimerick, discovered that she had won £77 million in theEuropean lottery. About 30 hours earlier two Irishmen fromfurther north, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, hadreason to believe that in another context — that of the thepeace process — they would be hitting a political jackpot.

The Euromillions draw came after nine rollovers. NorthernIreland has had a similar experience since the Good FridayAgreement, culminating in the dramatic announcement lastThursday that the IRA would cease all military activity.Does this mean that the lives of Mr Adams and Mr McGuinnessare now likely to be transformed, as no doubt they hope?Unfortunately a study of the past form of lottery winnersis not encouraging. And while I wish the McNamara familynothing but good fortune, I suspect the two republicanleaders might not fare so well.

At almost any other time the IRA statement would havedominated the news agenda for weeks. In the presentatmosphere, however, it has been treated almost as anhistorical afterthought, not a development with profoundsignificance. In so far as its implications have beenconsidered at all, it has been along the lines of "Do they(the IRA) mean it?" The real question should be: "What doesit mean?" The "Do they mean it?" question isstraightforward.

This is not, unlike other IRA offers to "place beyond armsbeyond use", a declaration that is reversible. After thisthe IRA can hardly at some future time issue a video of itspublic face, Sean Walsh, instructing volunteers to"retrieve guns" that have been dumped or engage inactivities that would be "incompatible with peaceful,democratic methods". Nor would there be any point in theIRA making this move if the Independent InternationalCommission on Decommissioning and the IndependentMonitoring Commission could not assign it a clean bill ofhealth afterwards. To the irritation of some Unionists,perhaps, the IRA will almost certainly deliver on its word.

It will do so because the relationship between Sinn Feinand the IRA has changed fundamentally. Sinn Fein was oncethe political wing of the IRA; in the course of the pastdecade, the IRA has become the paramilitary branch of SinnFein. A paramilitary organisation can choose whether or notit has a political manifestation. A political organisationin a Western democracy cannot, ultimately, choose whetheror not it has a paramilitary offshoot. Much of the painfulrollercoaster that Northern Ireland has endured since theGood Friday Agreement has been about republicans testinghow much of the IRA they could keep intact while stillpersuading London, Dublin, Washington and a portion ofUnionists to do business with them. That process has nowbeen settled on terms that a large enough number of peoplecan accept.

"What does it mean?" is far more challenging. It will taketime to be confident of an answer. Sinn Fein is nowdestined to be as much a paradoxical as a politicalorganisation, combining electoral success with ideologicalfailure.

The bonus at the ballot box for Sinn Fein is obvious. Itoutperformed the SDLP in the general election despite thedamning publicity that came from the murder of RobertMcCartney and the Northern Bank robbery. It will do evenbetter once it can campaign without the stigma of thebalaclava.

It is the only authentic working- class nationalistpolitical party in the Province (not least because the IRAkneecapped — or worse — anyone attempting to build up analternative) and it will romp home once IRA disarmamentrenders it fully "respectable". Sinn Fein will decommissionthe SDLP even faster than General John de Chastelain andhis team can dismantle the IRA's arsenal. That success willbe duplicated south of the border as well. It would beastonishing now if Sinn Fein did not win one vote in ten atthe next election in the Republic — a result that wouldleave it knocking at the door of office.

That voting strength will leave Sinn Fein, politically, ina win-win situation. If the Democratic Unionist Partyagrees to enter government with it in the north, then mensuch as Mr McGuinness and his like will be ministers againwith departmental fiefdoms. If, on the other hand, theUnionists will not share power even after the IRA has wounddown, there will be a Secretary of State in Ulster ineffect implementing Sinn Fein's positions on "equality andjustice" and " demilitarisation".

But therein in lies the rub. The more effective that SinnFein is as an electoral force, the more impotent it becomesas an ideological one. Every deal it strikes with TonyBlair legitimises the British presence in Northern Ireland.Every concession it secures that advances the economic andsocial standing of ordinary Roman Catholics in Ulsterweakens the argument that it is only through Irishunification that those material interests can be realised.With every step that Ulster takes towards becoming a"normal society", so what Sinn Fein officially regards asan "interim settlement" becomes more deeply entrenched.

This is the outlook for republicanism. A larger and largernumber of nationalists in both the North and the South willvote for Sinn Fein — but more because they regard it as thebest vehicle for representing them in a divided Irelandthan out of support for a united one. Nor will it make muchdifference if Catholics finally outbreed Protestants inUlster. Even at the height of the Troubles a substantialpercentage of nationalists preferred the status quo to theupheaval of unification.

That sentiment will only swell if politics is perceived tobe working in Northern Ireland. One winner of the nationallottery in Britain recently mused sadly that: "I have neverbeen richer and I have never been poorer." That is also theirony that awaits Mr Adams and Mr McGuinness.

BELFAST -- A few hours after he became the human face ofthe Irish Republican Army on Thursday, Seanna Walsh walkedinto the bar at the Felons Club in West Belfast and ordereda pint.

There were no cheers, no rounds for the house. Walsh saidhe was asked to do a job, and he did it. His job was toread a recorded statement announcing an end to the IRA's35-year armed campaign against British rule in NorthernIreland.

Walsh is what his former comrades-in-arms call ''sound," anIRA veteran who did his ''whack," or prison term. In fact,Walsh did several of them, beginning when he was 16, whenhe robbed a bank to help ''the cause." Walsh has spent 21of his 48 years in Her Majesty's prisons, some in the samecell with his good friend Bobby Sands, who led the 1981hunger strikes in which Sands and nine other republicanprisoners starved themselves to death demanding politicalstatus.

It was because of his impeccable republican credentials,and his credibility among former and current IRA membersthat Walsh was chosen to be the first IRA man since 1972 torepresent the organization without wearing a black mask.Like many IRA veterans who killed without remorse and spentmuch of their lives in prison without complaint, Walsh isready to step aside and let a movement always led by gunmennow be led by politicians.

Since the IRA called a cease-fire in 1994, IRA veteranslike Walsh have played a large role in dictating just howmuch ground the IRA would give in negotiations to end theconflict. They gave Gerry Adams, the president of SinnFein, the IRA's political wing, the backing he needed tosign the compromise in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998that accepts that Northern Ireland will remain part of theUnited Kingdom until a majority living there votesotherwise, dashing the republican tenet that it was anillegitimate state that had to be overthrown.

IRA veterans like Walsh sold the idea of scrapping weaponsto skeptical IRA members for whom guns hold a mythicalallure. More recently, Walsh and a cadre of senior,influential IRA veterans backed the idea of formally endingthe IRA's war against the British, the IRA's use ofviolence and intimidation to control its own neighborhoods,and even the bank robberies for the cause that first madeWalsh eligible for membership at the Felons Club.

Still, as Walsh and other IRA men stood in the front bar atthe club, watching Adams on television describe the IRA's''standing down" as an act of courage and confidence, therewere no whoops or cheers.

''Celebration is not the right word. Milestone is more likeit," said Liam Shannon, 57, a former IRA prisoner, lookingaround the club. ''There's a quiet emotion here, emotiontinged with sadness. It's the end of an era."Continued...

A few hours after he became the human face of the IrishRepublican Army on Thursday, Seanna Walsh walked into thebar at the Felons Club in West Belfast and ordered a pint.

There were no cheers, no rounds for the house. Walsh saidhe was asked to do a job, and he did it. His job was toread a recorded statement announcing an end to the IRA's35-year armed campaign against British rule in NorthernIreland.

Walsh is what his former comrades-in-arms call ''sound," anIRA veteran who did his ''whack," or prison term. In fact,Walsh did several of them, beginning when he was 16, whenhe robbed a bank to help ''the cause." Walsh has spent 21of his 48 years in Her Majesty's prisons, some in the samecell with his good friend Bobby Sands, who led the 1981hunger strikes in which Sands and nine other republicanprisoners starved themselves to death demanding politicalstatus.

It was because of his impeccable republican credentials,and his credibility among former and current IRA membersthat Walsh was chosen to be the first IRA man since 1972 torepresent the organization without wearing a black mask.Like many IRA veterans who killed without remorse and spentmuch of their lives in prison without complaint, Walsh isready to step aside and let a movement always led by gunmennow be led by politicians.

Since the IRA called a cease-fire in 1994, IRA veteranslike Walsh have played a large role in dictating just howmuch ground the IRA would give in negotiations to end theconflict. They gave Gerry Adams, the president of SinnFein, the IRA's political wing, the backing he needed tosign the compromise in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998that accepts that Northern Ireland will remain part of theUnited Kingdom until a majority living there votesotherwise, dashing the republican tenet that it was anillegitimate state that had to be overthrown.

IRA veterans like Walsh sold the idea of scrapping weaponsto skeptical IRA members for whom guns hold a mythicalallure. More recently, Walsh and a cadre of senior,influential IRA veterans backed the idea of formally endingthe IRA's war against the British, the IRA's use ofviolence and intimidation to control its own neighborhoods,and even the bank robberies for the cause that first madeWalsh eligible for membership at the Felons Club.

Still, as Walsh and other IRA men stood in the front bar atthe club, watching Adams on television describe the IRA's''standing down" as an act of courage and confidence, therewere no whoops or cheers.

''Celebration is not the right word. Milestone is more likeit," said Liam Shannon, 57, a former IRA prisoner, lookingaround the club. ''There's a quiet emotion here, emotiontinged with sadness. It's the end of an era."

Page 2 of 2 --There seems to be an acceptance, grudging ornot, that the fighters have had their day. The only cheerthat went up in the Felons Club on the day the IRA calledit quits was when the Irish premier, Bertie Ahern, appearedon the television and said that the prospect of Sinn Feinone day being a coalition partner in an Irish governmentwas now possible.

Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail Breaking News AlertsDespite the skepticism that greeted the IRA's announcement,especially from the loved ones of some of the 1,700 peoplekilled by the IRA since 1969, Shannon said most IRA membersaccept that their goal of a united Ireland must be achievedthrough politics. They make no excuses for waging war, hesays, but they realize Irish unity is only possible after asustained period of peace.

''Look around this place," he said. ''There's a lot ofrealists."

And yet idealism is literally on the walls. The club islined with the images of those who have killed and died forIreland. The portraits include Padraig Pearse, who wasexecuted after leading the 1916 Easter Rising.

In the lounge, two men belted out rebel songs accompaniedby a guitar and banjo, standing beside portraits of SeanSavage, Dan McCann, and Mairead Farrell, IRA operatives whowere killed by British commandos in Gibraltar in 1988,during a wave of violence on all sides that led Adams tobegin secret talks that many trace as the start of themodern peace process.

Mythology and memory run deep here. But Shannon and otherIRA veterans say they are ready to move on.

Danny Morrison already has. Morrison was the IRA activistand Sinn Fein strategist who famously coined the republicanmovement's credo of seizing power with a rifle in one handand a ballot box in the other. He spent much of the 1990sin prison, after being caught by police in the process ofinterrogating a suspected IRA informant.

''Danny was the last face you saw before they put the hoodover your head," said Sean O'Callaghan, a disgruntled IRAleader who turned against his former comrades.

But since his release from prison, Morrison has become asuccessful columnist, novelist, and, most recently,playwright. On Friday night, Morrison's play, ''The WrongMan," had its local premier before an invitation-onlyaudience at the Conway Mill complex in West Belfast. Therewere several senior IRA figures in the audience, includingBobby Storey.

The play, about two IRA men balancing duties to theirfamilies and the cause, contains a gripping scene of IRAmen interrogating one of their own who is suspected ofinforming. It is hauntingly realistic and lyrical at thesame time. The IRA members and their police interrogatorsare made to seem similar in their heavy-handed quest forinformation -- a parallel that seemed shockingly honest inthis particular setting.

Storey politely declined to talk about the play. But evensome of the IRA's most dedicated fighters seem prepared todebate their violent past even as they launch what theydescribe as a peaceful ''new mode" of their struggle.

As Morrison and a group of IRA veterans waited for a taxi,Seanna Walsh, who had watched the play, joined them.

Three members of the Miami Showband, who were killed bythe UVF 30 years ago, were remembered at a special prayerservice in Dublin on Saturday.

Families of Fran O'Toole, Tony Geraghty and Brian McCoygathered with friends at the Pro-Cathedral for aremembrance service which celebrated their work, on the30th anniversary of the atrocity.

Dana Rosemary Scallon, the 1970 Eurovision Song Contestwinner and former MEP, performed at the service and wasaccompanied by the Pro-Cathedral folk group. She sang hymnschosen by the families, Abide with Me, Here I Am and MakeMe a Channel of Your Peace.

Dickie Rock, the band's former lead singer, also paid amusical tribute at the service.

Relatives participated in the prayers and readings at theinter-denominational service, which was conducted by FrBrian D'Arcy and the Rev Robert Dean.

Two members of the band survived the attack, StephenTravers and Des Lee.

Mr Travers, who organised the commemoration with theJustice for the Forgotten Group, attended the Pro-Cathedralwith his daughter.

Mr Lee had travelled from South Africa to attend but had toleave on receiving news that his wife had been taken ill.Other members of his family attended.

Tonight a memorial concert will be held in Vicar Street.Artists appearing will include Brendan Bowyer, Tony Kenny,Red Hurley, Johnny Fean of Horslips and Paul Ashford.

Margaret Urwin of the Justice for the Forgotten Group, whoattended the service, said one of the ideas mooted for theproceeds of the concert was a permanent memorial to thethree musicians in Dublin.

The service was attended by many past and present showbandmusicians. Philomena Lynott, mother of the late Phil Lynottof Thin Lizzy, also attended.

Ms Scallon described the service. "It was really beautifuland very emotional. It was organised to ensure that theboys are not forgotten."

The Miami Showband was one of the most popular bands in the1970s. The three musicians were killed as they returnedhome from a performance at a dance in Banbridge, Co Down.

Their minibus was flagged down by men dressed in armyuniforms on the road to Newry.

The UVF gang loaded a bomb on to the minibus but itexploded prematurely, killing two UVF members. The rest ofthe gang then opened fire on the musicians, killing thethree band members.

Ireland has just enjoyed its sunniest July in 30 years,according to the Met Office.

Notwithstanding the leaden skies and torrential downpourssuffered in the east in recent days, sunshine levels werethe highest since the glorious summer of 1975.

Prospects for a return of the heatwave look dim, however,with the meteorologists predicting more cloud and some rainfor the coming week.

Sarah O'Reilly of the Met Office said that during July"close to record temperatures" were measured at a number ofstations on several days.

The highest temperature of 29.2 degrees was recorded inKilkenny on July 11th and 12th. This was the highest seenin the county since 1989.

However, for many, the gloss was taken off the month'sweather by the rain that fell on the east coast fromWednesday evening to Saturday morning. The equivalent of amonth's rain in July fell on Rosslare in 48 hours, andalmost as much was recorded in Dublin. The downpour causedthe roofs of Dublin Airport and the new Dundrum town centreto spring leaks. Up to then, this July was the driest for23 years.

Ms O'Reilly pointed out that the west continued to enjoygood weather while Dublin was deluged. She described theBank Holiday weather as "disappointing" but said thesituation was improving. "There was a lot of cloud over theweekend and the rain continued in the east through much ofSaturday."

Today's forecast is for brighter conditions, althoughtemperatures will remain pegged at a mediocre 20-21degrees.

More cloud and some rain is predicted tomorrow, although itmay brighten up later in the week. With the winds comingfrom the northwest, temperatures are not expected to risesignificantly.

Lines of gleaming SUVs in car parks at the base of CroaghPatrick, Co Mayo yesterday was testament to the increasingaffluence of the modern pilgrim or what the Archbishop ofTuam, Dr Michael Neary referred to as "an Ireland ofgrowing prosperity".

Stout hazel rods, the traditional "sticks for the Reek",were on sale in abundance as were items such as mugs and"miraculous medals", but the cloth-capped, barefootpenitents seemed less evident than in previous years andthere were definitely more mobile phones than rosary beads.

Still, the numbers doing the annual pilgrimage areconstant. Up to 20,000 pilgrims, some barefoot as istraditional, made the climb in good weather conditions.

There were no serious injuries, fewer than 20 "walkingwounded", according to Lt David Fahy, of Westport Order ofMalta. An Air Corps helicopter assisted in evacuatingcasualties from the mountain and a small number weretransferred by road to Mayo General Hospital.

Stick seller John Cruise, from Galway, was doing a brisktrade but bemoaned the fact that he was unable this year toget St Patrick medals to sell to pilgrims. "It's impossiblefor love or money to get a medal of St Patrick," he said."They don't seem to be making them anymore."

Mary McLoughlin from Ballylinan, Co Laois was perhaps oneof few climbers who would admit not making it to thesummit. "I went three- quarters of the way up," she said,"then the knees gave in on me. Sure it doesn't matter. Ican pray as well at the side of a mountain as at the top."

A group from the Rossport area of north Mayo, supportingthe five men jailed because of their opposition to theonshore Corrib gas pipeline, collected signatures at thebase of the mountain.

One of them, Bríd McGarry, said they were getting a goodresponse. "Even though pilgrims were concentrating on thetough climb ahead of them, they still took time out to getinformed about the reality of what is happening in northMayo," she said.

Archbishop Neary celebrated Mass to mark the centenary ofthe building of St Patrick's Oratory on the summit. "Sincethat day hundreds of thousands of people have carried theirpain, their hopes, their loneliness, their doubts and theirfaith to a listening and caring God."

He said that despite "the seeming weakness of faith in anIreland of growing prosperity" there was "still a vibrantchurch calling men and women to seek God with the strengthand companionship of others".